Geva has scheduled its first post-show discussion in regard to Next to Normal, a Pulitzer Prize-winning musical opening Tuesday and running through Feb. 10.

The play is about a suburban family struggling with loss and mental illness. Diana, the mother, is diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Geva is partnering with the National Alliance for Mental Illness’ Rochester chapter and the East House to put on some programs surrounding the play.

The first, a partnership with NAMI, is after the show on Jan. 13. Amy White is a mother supporting a child with mental illness and for the past year has talked about her own family’s struggles navigating the system and coping in her blog at www.farfromparadise.org.

In her latest blog entry, she talks about her surprise at how much her blog is read (it has readers in more than 30 countries) and how right now her family is at a much better place than when she started. The journey, of course, started before that when in December 2010 her family found themselves in the psych emergency department and has continued with three inpatient stays and continual care.

“My intent for the blog from the start has been to be an expert of my story; to share tools I discovered and information I learned with those who are experiencing difficulties supporting a loved one with mental health challenges,” she writes. ”Through it, I found my voice, my passion and a strong desire to help others by sharing my story and advocating for improved services and better support.”

Also scheduled are post-show “Sunday Salons” with the cast of the show on Jan 20 and Feb 3.

More programs will be forthcoming.

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Jeff Spevak has shaken the hand of Johnny Cash. He has done a shot of whiskey with Bo Diddley. He sang with Tina Turner for 12 seconds. His Top 10 albums of all time include 17 by Bob Dylan. He likes dogs, the Cleveland Indians and wine. His favorite books are Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy, Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He likes to eat Chilean sea bass.

Catherine Roberts: Lead Local Editor/Life, is the mother of two teenage boys. She's so used to being overbooked that when there's a spare moment, she feels the needs to know what's going on around town to fill the gap. Favorite things in Rochester include the museums, Red Wings games and concerts. But most of the time, you'll find her and her husband, Chad (the Democrat and Chronicle's overnight editor), at a bowling alley, the sidelines of a ball field or walking a dog in their Irondequoit neighborhood or Durand-Eastman Park. If you have any ideas, please email at cathyr@DemocratandChronicle.com

Diana Louise Carter was born at Rochester General Hospital the same year it opened and reared in Bristol, Ontario County. After college and grad school, her first reporting job was on a small newspaper in Western Massachusetts. She returned to Rochester in late 1987 to work for the Democrat and Chronicle. Carter covers agriculture and banking. She lives in the Upper Monroe neighborhood of Rochester with her husband and three children.

Anna Reguero, a former Democrat and Chronicle music critic, a clarinetist and a graduate of Eastman School of Music, is a doctoral student in musicology at State University of New York at Stony Brook.